As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[KMan101]

 

Pretty good assessment. Deas also seemed to have the benefit of working opposite his wife Margaret Colin (who was delightful as Margo and so quirky) and then Fiona Hutchison, just two examples. His OTT seemed to start with the Zimmer pairing, even though they had ridiculous and weird sexual chemistry.

 

I think along the way he also kinda gave up. Like Michael E Knight did, amongst others. Not an excuse for his shouting and scenery chewing but just an observation. I always felt if the show had continued or been revived (lol ... I know) Buzz would have been better to kill off than Alan. But I also wish they never introduced him so ... 

 

It seems like a lot of actors like Justin Deas, Kim Zimmer, Robin Strasser, Susan Seaforth Hayes all seemed to turn on the Over The Top acting in the hopes of keeping up with what was wanted at the time. Just another observation. We've had both Hayes and Strasser address this.

[vetsoapfan]

 

He was also very good and charming as Bucky Carter on Ryan's Hope...in 1975.

[KMan101]

 

Agreed. I liked him on there. I liked him on ATWT what I've seen of him there. Early GL he was fine and then ... lol

[Mitch]

 

As an Buzz hater I felt he was always OTT. I can't blame this on Zimmer when we had to sit through Buzz on top of the diner chewing what scenery wasn't on fire..though agreed, Buzz did really go into over drive with the windmill arms during his Zimmer time.

 

There was interview Deas did where he said Bruce Barry told him to tone it down, and from that day on he didn't really get into it.  Oh...poor baby! I do think part of it was that Buzz was HIS character and more ripe for going over the top then Tom, a legacy character, nice guy lawyer from the midwest. Plus, I don't see Wagner, Fulton, Hastings, etc putting up with his screen hogging.

 

I can't even imagine him in a scene with BevAlex and the looks of annoyance she would have had.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

At the time, he and Colin weren't yet married.  I think they were both off the show by the time they wed but they did have wonderful onscreen chemistry.  And Deas and Hutchinson had great chemistry too, so yes Deas definitely benefited from more than one great onscreen pairing.

 

 

That probably had a lot to do with his more disciplined performances. Tom was a character that had been played by other actors, who came and went and Deas must have had some sense that he could be replaced if he didn't focus on just doing good work, which likely kept him honest and his performances earnest.  Meanwhile Deas originated the role of Buzz and AFAIK, has been the sole actor ever to play the role. On some level, Deas probably came to believe that he was the only one who could play Buzz. Once an actor believes that he/she is the only one capable of portraying that character, it's probably a challenge to get them to be humble and just do their work and give an earnest performance.

[KMan101]

 

Yeah I was more implying he benefited from solid leading ladies to help reel him in. My mistake on them and their marriage! lol. They had great chemistry together on-screen and clearly off. Their Tom and Margo is very appealing to me, as was HBS's Margo. I like Gregg Marx and can see why he was cast at the time, but I think of David from DAYS. ATWT was very lucky to have a great Tom & Margo twice. Deas/Colin and Smith/Marx. Ellen Dolan and Scott Holmes were fine initially. Dolan worked for me far more than Holmes at times, but eh. I'd take them back on my screen in a heartbeat at this point. Their characters really ended up suffering though from such bad writing.

[Faulkner]

Deas was also great with Robin Mattson over on Santa Barbara (from what I’ve seen—my boyfriend grew up on SB, and was in lust with him), but you could always see peeks of Shouty McShouterstein coming through. He was so flippin’ handsome from what I’ve seen of him on ATWT. What a talent when he was in control of it.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

The way you identify Marx as being connected with Days is the way I think of Dolan being connected to GL, lol.  I can't say that I ever got used to her as Margo.

[KMan101]

 

Yeah. Dolan was my first Margo. I liked her more as Maureen, personally once I finally got to see her in the role. But then I also really liked Parker, but I've gone back and forth because I really did like what I saw of Dolan as Maureen. But then seeing HBS and Colin as Margo? No contest. Sorry Ellen Dolan. LOL. She was just harder, which I suppose makes sense for Margo at that point in her life but ... Scott Holmes and Ellen Dolan never seemed to have any chemistry and they kinda ruined Tom and Margo. Moreso Tom. He became like a lot of men on the soaps, grabbing arms and being shouty at the women in his life. It's like Josh on GL. Very different earlier on than later when he constantly yelled at Reva. I never understood some of these men's appeals until I watched older material.

 

I also forget about Santa Barbara at times and of course Deas was on there. I see a little bit of his later GL OTT but SB was campy ... I was watching the CC "death" episode from 1987. So maybe it started there? lol

Edited April 1, 2020 by KMan101

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Parker really was my first Maureen and I loved her and thought she deserved her Emmy award. I saw Dolan kind of retroactively and was amazed at how fluid her Maureen was compared to how brittle her Margo seemed to me. My lasting memory of Dolan's Margo was her shouting at Casey all the time--of course, it didn't help that TIIC had decided to make both her sons relentless screw-ups.

 

Unfortunately, the Emmy awards mostly seemed to reward shouty-ness and maudlin performances over subtlety or nuanced performances, which is why Kathryn Hays was always overlooked despite her excellence over decades. The commonplace tactics of performative histrionics with men grabbing and over-emoting that you speak of, unfortunately was a direct result of shows wanting to arm their actors with 'Emmy bait' performances, imo.  It's a shame it afflicted ATWT the way it had already done with most soaps at the time and still exists today.

[DRW50]

I thought Ellen Dolan managed to play softness and vulnerability in her first run as Margo, and I thought she had chemistry with Holmes in that run. It was her second run that seemed much harsher and colder to me. 

 

Deas could be very OTT as Tom. I think he was trying harder in the scene where he cross-examined Margo and unknowingly induced a miscarriage. He had enough respect for Margaret Colin to make that effort with her, I guess. 

[Khan]

Could Justin Deas be OTT?  Perhaps.  But, I'd take an actor who's OTT over one who's thinking about pizza.

Edited April 1, 2020 by Khan

[KMan101]

 

That's true on Dolan. She did seem softer in her first run in some of the episodes I've watched. She and Holmes had a nice rapport. Not sure what the hell happened (well, bad writing first of all, but still ... it's also acting choices)

 

That's fair on Deas. I can see that.

Edited April 1, 2020 by KMan101

[Faulkner]

What was Justin Deas like with Eileen Fulton and Don Hastings? 

[P.J.]

Yes, Deas chewed scenery on GL, but he was thrust into the loud moral center role. And he still did it better than some (for example, Scott Holmes, who grew more and more shrill as Tom...)